Movie: (1971) An aimless young man encounters a rural family that seems to have some secrets.
First shown: 7/11/98
Opening: The bots seek wassail from Mike
Intro: Mike finds a wassail loophole; Steffi the babysitter is left in charge
Host segment 1: Mike learns that walnut ranching is hard work
Host segment 2: Crow tries a test to see if he’s a witch
Host segment 3: Grandma Servo attacks
End: Crow sells his soul to Stan; storytime with Steffi
Stinger: “This is where the fish lives.”
(295 votes, average: 4.52 out of 5)
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• This is a pretty unremarkable and meandering movie, and it’s one of those episode that I remembered as being kind of dreary and not terribly funny, but on rewatching it I found myself laughing quite a bit. The segments are mostly the usual random silliness, but of course they are livened by the appearance of the totally awesome (and deadly) Beez.
• Paul, who at this time was doing a lot of the writeups, offers his thoughts.
• References.
• This ep was included in Rhino’s The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 5
• The movie is directed by a guy named Don Henderson. The director and star of the movie “Billy Jack,” Tom Laughlin, occasionally used the pseudonym Don Henderson. Because that, a number of MSTies, including our own Daddy-O, became convinced that Laughlin was the director of this. I was never convinced, and more than a little uneasy about his claims, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Laughlin passed away a couple of weeks ago and I scoured the obituaries about him and found zero evidence to back up this belief. We have removed any reference to it in the page for this episode in Daddy-O’s Drive-in Dirt.
• On the Rhino DVD, Mike does a little introduction and calls it “A Touch of Satan,” and makes a little riff on that. But it’s THE Touch of Satan. Kinda ruins the joke.
• Beez’s stint as Steffi the babysitter had a huge reaction from fans, especially young male ones. There was much hopeful conversation about whether she would be a permanent cast member.
• You sometimes wonder what sparks a segment. How did “wassail” come up?
• In segment 2, Mike climbs a ladder and we can see that he is wearing some pretty fruity sandals, if you ask me.
• Several shots of flowery meadows sparks an attack of Tom’s hay fever. Kind of reminds me of when Josh sneezed in the theater back in season one.
• Callbacks: “Stay!” (The Undead) and “You been hittin’ the BOOZE again!” (Giant Spider Invasion).
• In segment 3, Mike, who last week was reading “Bleak House,” is this week reading Henry Kissinger’s “Years of Upheaval.” Where is he getting these books?
• That’s Paul as the voice of Stan Johnson.
• Cast and crew roundup: Special effects guy Steve Karkus also worked on “Parts: The Clonus Horror.” Makeup guy Joe Blasco also worked on “Parts: The Clonus Horror,” and did special effects for “Track of the Moon Beast.” In front of the camera, Robert Easton was also in “The Giant Spider Invasion” and did voices for “Invaders from the Deep.”
• CreditsWatch: Directed by Kevin. This was Dan Breyer’s and Scott Bowman’s last episode as interns, and Nick Prueher’s first.
• Fave riff: “Get off the road, mangoat!” Honorable mention: “I sure hope he said peanuts.”
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This song is the public domain, that’s why we used it twice.
5 stars easy, one of my faves. Infinitely re-watchable. The subject film is bad, but not obnoxious and off-putting. Plenty of room for the riffs to move around in. Host segments are mixed, from average to good.
Thoughts and favorite riffs more or less scribbled in order.
On the DVD intro, Mike gets the name of the film wrong, insisting and riffing off the fact that it is A Touch of Satan when obviously it is THE Touch of Satan.
Like the last bit of the wassail song.. and severe financial penalties will come to you
Grudging respect for the Babysitter Stephie bit. I don’t enjoy it, but it is very well done.
Brain Guy and the time out, No Chew, Commune with the gossamer narthex
Who did the voice of the doomed farmer, couldn’t figure it out, seems very familiar
So did Ton Laughlin direct this film or not ? Wikipedia says YES, IMDB says NO.
The breakfast table seen pre-credit, are they telegraphing things that they know because they’ve seen the film ?
Emby Mellay: not a name, a bad Scrabble hand ( Pig Latin for Bem Amell ? )
Open credit sequence is very strong
What do you get when you fall from grace, you only get cast into perdition
The “So long foul deceiver” triple
Anne Heche at Ellen’s Café
How the heck do you even spell Fromikidal ?
Lots of 70’s humor.. Watergate and whip inflation now !
The conductor triple : Herbert Von Karajan / Drop me off at Tanglewood / Fritz Kreisler wore a shirt like that
Signed copy of the Necronomicon, you guys scare me Ha Ha Satan
Pitchfork bug ( a variation of slug bug )
$115.55 – $8.89 = $6.66
Barney Fife Voice: Andy I think there’s a demon in the car
That he can’t prove a negative is just stupid… prove he’s not a frog ? of course he can.
This song is the public domain, that’s why we used it twice.
Sell your soul to Stan was pretty decent, especially when it gets bundled into a collateralized soul obligation.
No Bark
What do you get when you fall from grace?
You only get cast into perdition…
This episode came up a few times in our recent Favorite Credits Sequence discussion, and deservedly so. Its leisurely paced opening credits are typical of 70’s films, giving M&TB time to do a whole run of Satanic-themed jokes and songs.
The movie is a creeper: it slowly sneaks up then pokes you with a pitchfork. Leather-faced Lucinda still scares me. Melissa “Two Sheds” Strickland is a cutie with over-plucked eyebrows and a gentle way about her. When I first heard Mike squeak out “The Trees” by Rush (from Hemispheres, 1978) and Crow refer to Luther as “Herbert von Karajan,” I knew this one was a winner. And Beez the Babysitter is awesome. I always liked this episode, but now I love it. 5 stars.
The subtle genius of the film is that Luther and his wife (NOT Melissa’s parents, made clear in the flashback, though their actual relationship is never explained) have seen this all before. They are all too aware of Jodie’s role as the latest meat puppet for Melissa. I’m not sure if she seduced him hoping to save herself or not, but her constant advocating for the devil did ultimately persuade Jodie to offer his soul in order to stay young and beautiful with her. A tragic ending, and sort of pro-Satan, but for the early 70’s that’s par for the course.
( jeez there’s like a dozen typos in my post sorry guys )
#2 – that song is probably my favorite part of the whole episode. Sometimes I just find myself singing those lyrics. Otherwise though this isn’t one I see a whole lot.
I give this 4 stars out of 5, and I give Beez 10 stars out of 5 :mrgreen:
Man, this would have been a lot more enjoyable had it gone the direction of your usual Farmer’s Daughter-type tale. Satan’s Daughter is just not nearly as enjoyable.
Did I miss where they explain the arrangement of the family? Was the mom-type-lady really her daughter? Or just some other relatives? I’m confused.
Oh, and that was no ordinary Maverick seen in the movie. It was a ‘Grabber’ edition. Nicer trim and paint package, dual-scoop hood, bucket seats, 302 engine, floor-shifter. Like a Mustang in a smaller package.
The Cecilia Bartoli and Von Karajan references are brilliant and hilarious. And it’s always nice to see dirty back-brace guy.
Zaa!
This is a good one, plain and simple. My first viewing of this episode I completely forgot about the riffing and paid more attention to the story (this hasn’t happened often) to see how it ends. The 2nd time around the jokes were icing on the cake. Four stars.
Killer grandma, locked in a barn… Something’s not right here!
Beat me to the zaa.
You didn’t…”call” him, did you?
Or “mail” anything?
This is where my tongue lives.
I adore the This is where the fish lives, it’s one of those classic moments where all Mike and the bots have to do is laugh. I wonder what was going through Ms. Mellay’s head when she said it.
A great film to riff and M&TB did not disappoint. I am embarassed to admit it, but I use to roll in a car simular to Jody’s, was about the same age and lived in northern California where the movie seems to be filmed. Finally, I use to date a devil spawn as well!
One of the best riffs ever “I sure hope he said peanuts.” was so unexpectant, it really floors me still. It really puts Bill’s personal stamp on Crow.
In closing, ZAAAAAA!
All of the host segments are absolutely rocking. Beez is gorgeous, and I’m a sucker for dark nail polish. Everything about the Wassail song is hysterical. Beginning to end the opening segment is fantastic with Beez (who’s gorgeous) interacts perfectly with Brain Guy and Bobo (Steffi: Go lie down. Bobo: Oh, ok!). “Get these rocks off me, I’m a tiny frog,” is priceless. The crazy grandmother bit is gut splittingly funny, the mumbling sounds are giggle inducing (“The other one doesn’t kill people though, this one does. That’s how I tell them apart.”). Crow selling his soul to Stan was nice and subtle but pleasantly goofy. Oh, and Beez is gorgeous. :)
Jodie is a phenomenally stupid and ignorant man. I love his argument that the Devil isn’t real because he doesn’t believe in it. It’s one thing to say, “I don’t believe in the Devil,” it’s another to so aggressively insist that it’s a fact. Seriously, his reasoning for why she can’t be possessed by the Devil is, “Just like those people in the store, they believe you’re a witch so it’s true for them. Well I don’t, so you’re not.” Head slapping ignorance at its best.
Melissa is kinda cute. And it’s been brought up once now, but to help drive home the confusion; who the heck are Luther and Molly? They’re not Melissa and Lucinda’s parents but their last name is Strickland. I don’t remember anything mentioned during the “Deleted Scenes” discussion, but does anyone have input on this now?
So many great riffs. Seriously this is up there with the Pumaman:
Melissa: She’s my great grandmother.
Mike: She’s not that great.
Melissa: I said Jodi’s agreed to stay a few days.
Luther: We heard you the first time.
Mike: We weren’t interested then either.
The incredulous way Tom says, “What? What?” after Lucinda is forced to stop stabbing the sheriff.
Crow: Maybe if Amish used buttons they wouldn’t be so irrational.
Mike: Now we just have to watch out for my other grandma, she’s really crazy.
Mike: Good, so we’re both in the clutches of the devil because you wanted seconds.
Oh I LOVE this episode—one of my favorites, although I have about 20 or so “favorite” eps. I usually don’t like 70s movies, even as riffing material, but I always like the darker movies they do, and you can’t get much darker than freakin’ SATAN. :twisted:
I don’t know why but the forced, cheerful “I saw a robin today!” riff during the tense dinner scene always cracks me up.
Host segments leave me “Meh” more often than not, but Servo’s pokey grandma is cute!
“when sore throat pain strikes”…and from that riff, well we have a ***** episode. I have watched this one about 6 times with 4 different people and we all agree this is a gem. The only thing that has made me laugh as hard lately as this episode is the South Park movie. (and Colbert, Daily Show, Shatner at the Olympics, Simpsons, and several other MST episodes)
I adore this episode to bits. It almost feels like it was literally made for Mike and the bots to riff on; the long, pregnant pauses between each line are just perfectly timed for them to add snarky comments without missing anything the actors say. Take the “This your car?” “Mind if I skip rocks across it?” bit, for example. It feels like the actor was the straight man setting up that joke.
And there are so many great bits. “Oh, well, excuse me, Miss ‘This is where the fish lives!'” “Nope. They won’t catch me until I kill again.” “Oh, he turns off the world, alright.” and of course, the moral of the movie, “You know, my mother had a saying. ‘It’s just as easy to fall in love with a woman who’s not possessed by Satan.'”
A regular in the rotation, five stars.
One of the episodes that makes me think the Brains are of the school of thought that confuses witchcraft and related pagan religions with Satanic beliefs and practices. Which is a shame because I’d rather think better of them than blind adherence to outdated beliefs of Christian fundamentalism.
That being said, this is a solid episode and I very much enjoy the playful antics of Grandma Rawhide-Chew.
I love this episode!! It just drips of 70’s banality. When it came out I was really enjoying new MST3K ep’s as they aired.
Favorite riff: “Let me get out my guitar and practice Sister Golden Hair”
>>>makes me think the Brains are of the school of thought that confuses witchcraft and related pagan religions with Satanic beliefs and practices
I think they were just playing along with the movie.
I love this episode. One of my favorite of the whole Sci Fi era.
Reasons why I love it:
1. Sorry to Pearl fans: but, it has no Pearl. And given that I loathe her character, it makes for the rare Sci Fi ep where I don’t have to fast forward any segments. Beez was very funny and I loved Brain Guy’s “because I want to” line.
2. The movie. Awkward silences, laugh out loud dialogue, poor acting and an awful story. Perfect.
3. The riffing is top notch throughout.
4.5 stars from Droppo.
The host segs are a bit weak for me, but this is a decent, albeit very spooky episode. I have it at a B+, but while watching it last night, I wasn’t that thrilled. It will be moving down soon.
Check out my full review by clicking my name above.
Segment 3 had some fantastic lines from Servo.
“I have two grandma’s, Mike, I always have. This is the one who kills people, that’s how I tell them apart.”
“What’s that, Grandma? Big? Slow? Tempting target? Believe me, I know, but you just can’t.”
Maybe I’m just a sucker for badly filmed, painfully paced, melodramatic 70’s movies with the obligatory dreary ending, but this one has been a favorite of mine for a while. It seems like any episode without a huge hype surrounding it was much easier to watch and enjoy without waiting for “ROFL moments”. However, the riffing WAS pretty solid in this one and M&TB seemed to be having fun with it.
“I love the yelling channel.”
“Nice door. I’d like to see it crumpled up next to my bed in the…oh, wait…”
“DIE! DIE! DIE! I mean, hello.”
Funny riffs, but not some of my favorite host segments (e.g., Wassail) and the movie is just so dismally dull with a dumb, oft repeated general premise. An average episode for me. I do like “this is where the fish lives”. One of the greatest “huh?” pieces of dialogue in any low budget movie ever!
I haven’t commented on an episode guide in a while, but I’m back!
This is one of those handful of SciFi episodes that can make me laugh just as hard as a good Season 4-7 Comedy Central episode. The movie’s never-ending supply of pauses gives Mike and the bots plenty of time to fill in their own jokes, and there’s so much to work with. It reaches its zenith in the flashback sequence, where it’s just one gut-buster after another (“Yea…” “Team”, “It’s people saying ‘burn the witch’, are you deaf?”, “Oh, and go Packers, too, but mostly burn the witch”, “Well, I don’t comb my hair with rat bones!”, etc.) It also gives us my all-time favorite religious themed riff: “Pay attention to the word of God” “For he loves you, and he may kill you if you don’t.” That about sums it up, doesn’t it?
Beez as Steffi is hilarious. I’m guessing Mary Jo was off in LA to film the Leonard Maltin stuff for next week, which would explain Pearl’s absence here. Leave it to the Brains to devise a clever way to fill in the gap in the cast. “No! No bark!”
I sure love the Yelling Channel… :lol:
So little to say about such a Fantastic Episode, Sampo? People may have to watch it more than once, but I count this as Mystie Masterpiece. The riffs are phenomenal the whole way through and I for one found the host segments superb, which is a rarity. I still sing the Bot’s version of Wassail during the holiday season; Oh who am I kidding? I sing it all year long:
“Love and Joy come to you,
Unless you can’t provide the Wassail,
Then severe financial penalties shall come to you,
And severe financial penalties to you.”
Crow: “Talk Quicker!” ’nuff said
“What do you do when you fall from grace?
You only get cast into perdition.”
Many of my favorite riffs come from early in the movie, during the opening driving sequence: “Get off the road, Man-goat!” “Hasta luego, Maverick-driving Clutie!” I also love all the “continuing dialog” riffs: during the evening scene between Jodie and Melissa at the pond, with Servo picking up on the whole “Stop it!” exchange, and the “Stay here!” routine between him and Mike shortly thereafter Then there’s my favorite; when Robert Easton’s character comments about the woman losing her “young’un”, Mike adds, “Lost her at Gymboree.”
I fall into the “Sometimes you have to let Art flow” camp when it comes to these movies & their plots, but I am really lost with this one. So Melissa saved her sister, but then she herself burns her at the end of the movie? The devil refers to Lucinda as a witch, and Melissa herself says, “Burn, Witch!” toward the end, so was Lucinda really supposed to be a witch, and if so, when did she become one? What exactly was Melissa’s purpose in calling Jodie; was it to save herself from Satan? If so, that didn’t work out so well. Who exactly are Luther and Molly, and are they really Satan’s minions, or are they decent farm folk who just happen to live with an old witch and her even older sister? Seriously, a very WTF sort of movie.
“Good, so we’re both in the clutches of the devil because you wanted seconds!”
Well, I’ve seen this more then once but I have to admit
I’ve been no more successful then Crow in spotting Clu
Gulagher. No wait, perhaps he’s cleverly disguised as
the old farmer with the cow fetish at the beginning! Hmm?
Oh, and another point, since Joel made Tom Servo, why did he
make two TS grandmas and apparently no TS grandpas?
Think about it, won’t you?
Just a quick note on my favorite bit, and it’s in the host segments:
Steffi: Yes, Brian?
Observer: No, it’s Brain. I mean, Brain GUY. I mean… OBSERVER! Oh, never mind.
A friend of mine and I kind of get a little irritated…. the movie clearly establishes during the flashback that Lucinda is Melissa’s SISTER, and yet Mike and the Bots continue with the premise that she’s her grandmother until the end of the film. Were the Brains not even paying attention to these things?
Stan recently made a couple of acquisitions.
In the very strange role-playing game setting Low Life (once described as post-post-post-post-apocalypse where players take on the roles of surviving life-forms such as cockroaches and snack cakes), one of the religions is Stanism. In the description, “Stan is the granddaddy of lies and deceit. He’s the great granddaddy of greed and averice and the second cousin twice removed of apathy, gluttony, and villainy. His brother is anger and his daughter is lust.”
Who are Luther and Molly ? My thoughts in descending order of plausibility.
They are Melissa’s descendants. You think Jodie was the first young stud to wander by and get trapped in the Strickland web ? They could be her children or her grandchildren. I do get kind of a “grown children of elderly parents” vibe from them. Jodie will father some kids with Melissa, who will grow up and replace Luther and Molly someday.
They are Melissa’s victims… You think Jodie was the first young stud to wander by and get trapped in the Strickland web ? They could be earlier unfortunate passers by ( either separately or as a couple ) that got drawn in and trapped and more or less forced to do her bidding. They are supportive of Melissa, but not unquestionably so, they don’t seem to be in her thrall, they still have some vestige of free will.
They are themselves demons, either provided by Satan, or brought forth by Endora’s I mean Melissa’s own powers. Seems unlikely, but I can’t really put my reasons into words.
As for Lucinda, I’ll say that she was indeed a witch ( the dirt stupid town folk got it right ). Melissa saves her witch sister and herself becomes a witch. And in Jodie we have the bookend to the story, where he, to save his witch, must in turn become one himself.
Finally, I assume that there must be some elaborate cover story to explain why Melissa has been hanging around for the past century or so and hasn’t aged a day. The modern-day town folk are right to be suspicious.
I love the “This where the fish lives” line and all joke made because of it. Also who knew walnut ranching wad such hard work.
Yup, gotta love the banal 70s looks-like-a-TV-movie-but-isn’t school of filmmaking where absolutely nothing happens (well, except for the occasional fromikidal maniac running around) but it doesn’t happen reaaaaalllly slowly and portentously.
A feast for Mike & the bots, and for all of us watching. Steffi the Babysitter is one of the great host bit themes ever, and Beez, Bill & Kevin play it for all it’s worth.
“This is where the fish lives,” pops up in conversation around the Gummo household at the most inappropriate times. Then again, when would that sentence ever be appropriate?
Unlike some other commenters, I found Melissa the irresistable siren to be as plain as flat seltzer, which of course only makes the whole thing funnier.
In conclusion just let me say, “No! No chew!!”
Damn! The fish moved and didnt leave a fowarding address!
Now, I’m gonna puke on the Maverick!
This is one of my all-time favorite episodes. Funny host segments and strong riffing throughout.
“Yep, pretty much a shutout for Satan.”
This is my favorite episode EVER. I watch it again and again and it always makes me laugh. It’s the first episode (after the movie) that I show newbies. “This is where my TONGUE lives” always kills me!
Infinite love for this episode. At least 15 viewings, and it never gets old. The seventies horror films are probably my favorite fodder for the sci-fi era Brains. This one especially has that made-for-tv feel about it. So does It Lives by Night, and to a lesser extent, Track of the Moon Beast. This episode has one of my favorite riffs that I like to make when I or someone else mispronounces a word.
“Is that right? I should check my dictionotomy.”
Zaa everyone!
This is one of my favorites, and the big reason is it was filmed in my Home Town of Santa Ynez, California. The scene in the grocery store was filmed at the little rip-off mart in “downtown” Santa Ynez, about three blocks from my parent’s house. Many of the roads Jodie drives on in the opening of the movie are roads I travelled many many times as a teenager. It doesn’t change the fact that the movie is a dud, but it makes it fun to watch!
This episode makes me want some CARNATION ICE CREAM. It’s a movie that is bad and boring but in that seventies bad and boring that makes it funny on its own. Add mike and the bots and you get a good episode. The host segements contain one of my favorite rants when brain guy questions the whole green eggs and ham conflict. Favorite riff “I love the yelling channel”
I love this episode,one of the best SciFi era.
Stop it.
Some funny riffs on the deputy. “Andy there was a demon in the car.”
“Will he even fit in the iron maiden?”
Stop it.
This one did not leave a great impression on me in my first viewing, but on later viewings it’s grown on me. It has that ’70’s Drive In Theater’ quality to it that lends itself to riffing pretty well. Not a classic episode, but still very good.
Yes, Beez is very pretty, but I think she’s married, so I guess she’s hands-off. :sad:
“I sure hope he said peanuts.” That one gets me too.
“She’s an old person!”
Crow: “They don’t know what they’re doing half the time.
*grandma breaks down front door*
Servo: “It was open!”
“This is where my tongue lives.”
“Okay, kids. This is where we’ll picnic– whathe? AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!”
i concur…there is just something about this episode that makes it one of my absolute favorites…
a line that literally made me laugh so hard i double over in pain…
the grandmother/sister is looking in the mirror and smiling..and mike yells out “who’s got it going on?? ME!! that’s who!”
this or girl in gold boots definately gets a spin for any newbies
“You know with Mitchum you can skip a week” had me rolling, just the way Mike says it. “Maverick driving Clootie” has been running through my mind for the past wwek or so. Not one of my faves when it was originally released, but I enjoy it a lot more know.
Favorite riff ” Lucinda, guess who we saw in town”.
Insect Man # 47:
Do you stay well- stocked with CARNATION ICE CREAM? :grin:
“This song is in
The public domain,
That’s why we used it TWICE.”
In a call-back to last weekend, I put this in to the highly overrated category.
The movie is a snoozefest of ugly people doing very little in boring ways.
So-so episode. 3 stars.
Funny, but not as side-splittingly funny as some of the other 1970’s films they riffed.
The movie is bad(and dull) but isn’t outstandingly bad, when compared with other low budget horror flicks of that era. The scariest part is at the end credits when the scrolling overlay jumps the track.
The riffing is okay, but it doesn’t produce many loud laughs and the host segments are not too memorable (though it’s nice to see Beez in a speaking role & her interactions with Observer are pretty funny).
“Hallmark Hall of Fame presents: The Touch of Satan”
“This is where my tongue lives”
Love this episode. I think “This is where the fish lives,” is such a wonderful rare bad movie line. A similarly bad movie line is John Malkovich’s first line in “Eragon.” With no context whatsoever in the very first line in his very first appearance in the movie is, “I suffer without my stone.” Hehe.
Jody and Melissa are just another in an endless parade of MST3K screen couples who don’t seem to have any chemistry whatsoever between them. Just like Derek and Betty in “Teenagers from Outer Space,” Mike and Margaret in “Manos,” or any couple from a Coleman Francis movie, I can’t imagine any sort of parallel universe where Jody and Melissa would actually get together. His only appealing quality is his car and her only appealing quality is the fact that she’ll talk to him. How did these two get cast?
Emby Mellay never appeared in any other movies. I wonder what ever happened to her…
The theology of this movie is confusing. As I pointed out in last weekend’s discussion, Satan’s voice changes gender, it’s never clear why Melissa’s grandma-sister is so long-lived when it was Melissa was the witch. (Or were the townspeople right and the sister was a witch?) Why did doing the nasty with Melissa cause her to show her true age?
I get a kick out of the long pauses. They’re the perfect setup for a riff.
Sampo: “In segment 2, Mike climbs a ladder and we can see that he is wearing some pretty fruity sandals, if you ask me.”
I think so too. Those sandals were an unfortunate trend in men’s footwear during the late ’90s.